A truly circular European economy including all sectors of activity could be a way for the EU to combat the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, said European Environment and Climate Ministers on Friday 12 July in Helsinki, calling for the EU to move to the next level - a circular economy 2.0 that would go well beyond the action plan adopted in 2015.
On the second day of their informal meeting, the Finnish Presidency of the EU Council invited them to consider the potential of the circular economy and the next steps to be taken by the EU (see EUROPE 12294/3, 12286/8).
“Climate change and biodiversity loss are the greatest challenges of our time. By moving from a single-use culture to a circular economy, the EU alone could halve industrial greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Improved recycling of materials would also reduce the pressure on nature caused by consumption. The EU's competitiveness must be based on sustainability, on mitigation of climate change and sparing, long-term use of renewable natural resources”, said Finnish Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Krista Mikkonen after the meeting.
The Ministers and the European Commission all thanked the Finnish Presidency for putting the concurrent treatment of climate, biodiversity and the circular economy on the agenda.
Including textiles, transport, construction, and food. The informal discussions between the ministers made it possible to reach a consensus on the following points:
- The circular economy is crucial to reducing pressure on the use of natural resources and negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems;
- Policy makers need to further integrate the circular economy into industrial policy;
- All sectors are concerned, starting with construction, food, textiles and mobility, which could be the subject of a holistic approach and a long-term strategy, similar to those adopted for plastics;
- EU-wide targets should be set for the use of natural resources;
- Cities and regions have a key role to play since they consume 70% of resources, generate 50% of waste and have enormous potential with regard to land management.
These introductory considerations will feed into EU Council conclusions, which the Finnish Presidency would like to see adopted at the ‘Environment’ Council on 9 October “to ensure that the circular economy occupies a prominent place in the work programme of the new European Commission”, said Ms Mikkonen.
During the debate, several Member States called for the EU's long-term climate strategy to be guided by the circular economy. However, the desire to make progress in the circular economy must not be at the expense of material safety, Sweden insisted: “We must both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure a cycle of non-toxic materials”, the Swedish minister said.
Ongoing work to be continued at the Commission. The EU is a leader in the circular economy through regulation and industry, but the circular economy is still in its infancy, said Jyrki Katainen, European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness. Referring to criticism often levelled at the EU, “who are accused of prohibiting this or that”, he said “I would like to see a ban on using the word waste”; in a circular economy, waste must be considered as a resource.
He stressed the “crucial” importance of creating a single market for secondary raw materials and ensuring that EU legislation respects market economy principles and allows products made from recycled materials to cross borders easily.
The Commission is currently working on setting standards for plastic packaging. “This will make it easier to trade packaging waste and create a new market”, he said. Establishing standards for biodegradable marine plastics will also be very useful for avoiding waste. It will be up to the next Commission to create a circular economy 2.0.
The Commissioner for the Environment, Karmenu Vella, asserted that the circular economy is the policy par excellence that makes it possible to approach environmental policy in a horizontal way. He announced the launch by the Commission of a two-year study to develop a methodology to assess the impact of circularity on climate change.
“We also want to further strengthen the horizontal application by linking to our digital agenda, agricultural policies, and employment and skills”, he added. The Commissioner also argued that the prices of all products should include their cost of their environmental footprint. Pilot projects were launched 3 years ago to “measure and compare the carbon footprint of products in 26 sectors”, he said.
The ministerial discussions were enriched by the participation of an expert in sustainable economics from Material Economics, Per Kelvenäs, who highlighted the importance of labelling all products to show their environmental cost.
A background note prepared by the Finnish Presidency pointed out that, according to a study by Material Economics, switching to the circular use of the most commonly used materials - steel, plastics, aluminium and cement - in the EU alone could cut industrial emissions in half by 2050.
In addition, according to the International Resource Panel, resource efficiency policies and initiatives could cut resource use by 26% and greenhouse gas emissions by an additional 15-20% by 2050. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)